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Neither Istrouma or Scotlandville is particularly close to the form at which it ended last season.

But the latter, the defending 5A champion Hornets, showed more flashes Thursday in the teams' season opener en route to the lopsided road victory, 77-32.

"We didn't do a bad job in the first half, but then at points in time we got a little sloppy," Scotlandville Coach Carlos Sample said. "For a young team, that's gonna happen, but some of these guys have been around a lot of basketball at Scotlandville, so some of the mistakes they're making are really unacceptable. It's just a learning process, and I think they know the level they need to be on to compete with the good teams, and we're not there yet, but we're working and building."

Scotlandville (1-0) quickly built a 19-6 lead and never trailed.

Senior guard Ezekiel Vershawn Brown, the lone active starter from last year's title run, led much of that early charge, scoring 10 of those first 19 points and assisting on another pair of those baskets.

"He's so unselfish," Sample said. "He's probably our best shooter, and he's so unselfish we've got to beg him to take the shots because he can shoot it. He didn't play bad, but he has to be a little more vocal. He's been taking a backseat to Trelun (Banks) and some of the other guards we've had in the past, but he's just effective. He's been playing for four years."

Brown finished with 15 points and six assists.

Garrick Green, the Hornets' big man who also played a large role in the early advantage, added 14 points and 10 rebounds, and the shooters that surrounded him made the most of their resulting opportunities.

Jordan Adebutu eventually scored a game-high 18 points, including four 3-pointers, while also dishing out four assists and grabbing three rebounds.

"We shot the ball from the perimeter pretty well," Sample said. "Jordan, Braylon and Vershawn, but it's a work in progress, and we've got a long way to go."

Istrouma (0-1) struggled to establish itself early, due in no small part to 11 first-quarter turnovers, and could never catch up, although the Indians played the Hornets much more closely in a third quarter in which Scotlandville's scoring advantage was just 16-14.

"We've got to take the good things out of it," Istrouma Coach Matthew Martin said. "You wanna come into the game. You wanna compete. I just got my football guys back, and that could be an advantage for us going forward, but also the challenge is getting these guys in and getting the plays ready to execute, and obviously we couldn't do that against a great defense. You've gotta give your hats off to Coach Sample. That's why they're a two-time 5A champion, and hopefully we can get to their level."

Trie Gibson led the home team with 12 points and three rebounds, and Aaron Hall added six points and seven boards.

"They're probably the best two athletes at the school," Martin said. "We've gotta find a way for our guards to get them the ball, and that starts with me. I take responsibility for it. I just have to get 'em in and get a chance to get some plays in. We only had one practice with those guys this week. We had a lot going on with transitioning the offense. There's no excuse as far as basketball, though, and obviously that was a bright spot, so we've got to find a way to get them the ball more."

York Dersona scored six points, and Derrick Leonard and Dorien Stambley each finished with four.

Martin, who took over only recently after the school and former Coach Aaron Pearson parted way in September, remains optimistic the Indians can progress back toward the success they achieved last season when they reached their first semifinal since 1964.

"These guys were one game away from being a champion last year, and I'm sure every coach would tell you they would want to be a champion," Martin said. "It's no different with me. We're looking to be a 2A champion. We have a long way to go, obviously, to get there. We just need to work on getting our fundamentals together, protecting the ball and learning how to compete the full 32 minutes. That's the main thing I'm gonna drill going forward."

Similarly, Sample sees championship potential in his own young squad, even with senior guard Vincent Sanders out with a torn ACL and MCL and former standouts Banks, Brian Bridgewater, Damian Jones and Jared Sam now graduated.

"We play Higgins next week, Monday, so I know that's gonna be a big test for our kids," Sample said. "We just wanna get better. I'm not really looking at any other scores and wins and losses right now. I'm just looking at us getting better. We wanna be there in the end. We want to be there when the district and playoff time comes."